The jobless increase in October was the biggest monthly rise since February, when the total rose by 31,500. It came after a rise in September which wiped out a slight fall in unemployment in August.

The French government had been counting on a pick-up in business activity in the second half but has cut its 2014 economic growth estimate to 0.4 percent from 1.0 percent previously after the economy stagnated in the first half.

Earlier, a report by leading economists jointly commissioned by the French and German governments suggested shaking up the rigid French labour market as part of a pro-growth reform package also advocating higher German public investment.